'“I’ve had two guys in Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff that have trusted me and put faith in me and watched me grow,” Campbell said. “It’s probably not to the extent of a father watching a son leave, but it gets to that extent in a lot of ways.”'

‘Jason Pominville will take Brian Campbell’s place on the point of the first power play unit. Dmitri Kalinin is paired with Jaro Spacek in place of Campbell for even strength hockey. Nathan Paetsch moves from the press box to the ice. Paetsch will be paired with Nolan Pratt.’

'"Yesterday was a tough day," Ruff said during his weekly appearance on The Howard Simon Show. "Brian's been a big part of our team. I went with our daily routine and we were in our video meeting and I went back in the room and got Brian. Darcy and I sat down and talked to him."'

'“You recognize that if you allow everyone to go to the unrestricted free agent market, and I’m not blaming anyone here, your draft cannot support the makeup of your hockey club,” Regier said. “Subsequently, in the best interest of the club, you have to get something back. Otherwise, you won’t have enough players and you won’t have enough quality.”'

'The difference between the Sabres’ laughable three-year offer and the one he’ll receive this summer could be $20 million, maybe more, in guaranteed money. Taking a hometown discount is one thing, and using common sense is quite another. Put yourself in his skates.'

'“It’s just frustrating because we felt like we had a team that could pursue a Stanley Cup for the last two years,” said goaltender Ryan Miller. “We’re going to have to retool and regroup. The attitude needs to remain the same. We have a core group of guys who understands what it takes. We’re just going to have to find our spot, find our way, make the playoffs and play well.”'

'“I’ve got a lot of work to do right now,” he said. “There’s some things I want to clean up in my game. I’ve had a couple rough outings. I want to get back to where I’m just playing hockey. Maybe Brian moving on and getting past this situation we can all kind of go about our business.”'

'Diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia in June 2005, Kaitlyn was recently granted her one true wish, courtesy of the Make-A-Wish- Foundation of Western New York. That is, to have her family’s basement redone as an homage to the Sabres.'

'"We will see what Buffalo wants to do with me," said the second-year defenseman, whose development curve with the Amerks is quite similar to that of Campbell. "It opens the door for me a little more. It means there might be a little more space to do some things."'

'But if Bernier does become the forward many think he could, and if the Sabres penchant for hitting on first-round picks continues, Buffalo fans will look back at the pro-active approach with a smile down the road, something they can’t do when revisiting the exits of J.P. Dumont, Mike Grier, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere.'